TOKYOPOP launches new romance imprint, LoveLove

We have some thrilling information proper earlier than Anime Expo 2023: the debut of TOKYOPOP’s new romance imprint, LoveLove, specializing in shojo, josei, women love, boys love manga, and Western romance graphic novels.

There are already a number of beforehand revealed titles already listed on TOKYOPOP’s LoveLove touchdown web page, like February 2023’s Why I Adopted My Husband by Yuta Yagi, a nonfiction manga a few homosexual couple searching for authorized recognition in Japan the place homosexual marriage will not be but authorized, and May 2023’s At 30, I Realized I Had No Gender by Shou Arai, a nonfiction manga about rising up in a society the place every thing is strongly segregated by gender. In addition, the imprint introduced new manga titles starting within the fall of 2023, bringing much more TOKYOPOP to the legions of readers lusting for romance fiction.

In case you have been questioning, there are legions of romance readers. According to Book Ad Report, romance novels generate over $1.44 billion in gross sales yearly, making romance the bestselling style of fiction, practically double the following highest style of crime/thriller at $728.2 million. From 2022 to 2023, romance novel gross sales soared, with a surge of about 52 %, based on Publishers Weekly.

“LoveLove is founded on a core TOKYOPOP company belief that ‘love is love‘ and all types of romance deserve to be celebrated,” says Lena Atanassova, LoveLove Brand Editor of TOKYOPOP. “Given the strong global market for manga and romance content, there are substantial opportunities to bring these titles to existing fans as well as traditional romance readers eager to explore the genre in a new way.”

Titles that LoveLove will probably be debuting this fall will embody:

THE BLACK CAT & THE VAMPIRE, Vol. 1, by Nikke Taino · Print SRP: 15.99 · 226 pages · ISBN – 978-1-4278-7434-4 · Available October 10^th

Blanc College is a prestigious all-boys boarding faculty the place the sons of main households from all around the world examine and be taught to be unbiased. Yuki, a freshman attending Blanc College on a scholarship, is the right pupil: on the high of his class, quiet and well mannered. He’s a loner, preserving others at arm’s size — besides Jean, the devastatingly charming Head Boy, who appears completely proof against Yuki’s aloof perspective. Their faculty days are peaceable till, in the future, a pupil will get attacked and finally ends up with a wound on his neck that appears suspiciously like a vampire chew! Yuki doesn’t have time for this nonsense. And apart from, vampires aren’t even actual… proper?

THE BLACK CAT & THE VAMPIRE is a two-volume, supernatural BL manga set in a magical boarding highschool. The digital version comes with unique full-color bonus artwork pages. For older teen readers (16+).

UNDEAD: FINDING LOVE IN THE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE, Vol. 1, by Fumi Tsuyuhisa · Print SRP: 13.99 · 178 pages · ISBN – 978-1-4278-7422-1 · Available October 24^th

Which will you discover on this devastated world — love or despair? Nineteen-year-old Hikaru Asahina misplaced every thing the day the world ended. Everything, that’s, besides his childhood buddy Ai Kosaka, who has all the time taken care of him. Now the 2 of them, together with different survivors, battle to remain alive in a post-apocalyptic world full of man-eating zombies. And when Ai confesses to feeling one thing extra for Hikaru, it modifications every thing. After all, the extra valuable somebody is to you, the tougher it’s to lose them. In a world like theirs, is one thing like love even potential?

UNDEAD presents a novel premise mixing boys love and horror genres. A compelling learn for followers of dystopian fiction and romance. A mature-themed title for older readers (18+).

SATING THE WOLF, by Troy Arukuno · Print SRP: 13.99 · 192 pages · ISBN – 978-1-4278-7510-5 · Available October 24^th

Noah, a wolf with no household, was banished from his beloved pack after presenting as an Omega. While wandering alone in a village of herbivores, he meets Henri, a rabbit who lives alone along with his little brothers. In a city the place carnivores are feared, Henri bravely takes Noah in and provides him a job. When Noah by accident goes into warmth, it all of the sudden awakens Henri’s Alpha instincts.

Will a world divided between carnivores and herbivores settle for the connection between a bit Alpha rabbit and a giant Omega wolf?

SATING THE WOLF is a mature-themed (18+), standalone manga that includes anthropomorphic characters that’s set throughout the “Omegaverse,” a posh setting based on BDSM and werewolf-like themes, that are highly regarded amongst romance and BL followers. The story is a good match for readers who take pleasure in strongly outlined interpersonal dynamics of their romance.

LULLABY OF THE DAWN, Vol. 1, by Ichika Yuno · Print SRP: 13.99 · 208 pages · ISBN – 978-1-4278-7349-1 · Available November 14^th

Night after night time, Elva steps forth into the black sea, sword in hand, to drive again the creatures that surge from the waves. Elva is among the ‘kannagi,’ warrior clergymen chosen by the divine to guard the island. With his snow-white hair, unaging youth, and black-stained limbs — proof of the corruption that progressively takes the life of each kannagi — the native folks worry and shun him… a minimum of till his path crosses with that of a boy named Alto. Enraptured by Elva’s energy and lonely soul, Alto swears to serve him and free him from his cursed destiny.

After eight lengthy years, Alto has grown right into a succesful and fearless younger man, unwavering in his devotion to his kannagi. Elva had way back resigned himself to an early demise — however one way or the other, Alto’s presence appears to be progressively therapeutic him of the black sea’s corruption…

LULLABY OF THE DAWN received first place within the Best Comic class within the 2022 Chill Chill BL Awards. This story (for Older Teens 16+) of a romance between a shaman and a loyal villager relies in an unique fantasy world with distinctive parts and settings.